GLASS HAMMER
505148
CD
ON TO EVERMORE (3RD STUDIO ALBUM-EXCELLENT PROG)
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KEYBOARDS DOMINATED (PROG)This is a sixty-three minute, mature, 10-track concept album released in 1998, built around ‘The Story Of Arianna And The Sculptor’, and it contains songs that convey a tale that will warm the cockles of your heart, with an ever-developing mix of vocal and instrumental work that will stir both the reflective and soulful side of the listener. ‘Evermore’ finds the group stretching themselves a bit more than the previous two releases, featuring in ample doses, some of the finest prog keyboard soloing we’ve heard, whilst bringing in more lyrics at the same time. Some songs have slight, but distinct Pink Floyd influences (especially the opening title track), while others seem to elegantly span the worlds of Yes and Renaissance without ever sounding like a carbon copy of either. The vocals are excellent, and all the classic prog instrumental elements are in there in abundance. Track lengths vary from five to sixteen minutes, and some of the songs, especially in the earlier part of the CD, have a catchy feel that brings a more mainstream appeal to Glass Hammer music. Overall, this is a really “tasty” symphonic prog album.
The seven-minute title track opens the album beautifully - Taken at a languid pace, it is largely made up of keyboards-based leads and backdrops, with guitars performing more of a rhythmic function, while the bass and drums lay down a strong, solid foundation, with the real star being vocal harmonies that touch your heart with their increasingly warm Floydian layers. The five-minute ‘Mayor Of Longview’ follows with a melodic synth intro, as jaunty rhythms, fine vocals and a steaming electric guitar worthy of Steve Hackett, all fly in on a wonderfully uplifting slice of well-crafted mainstream prog. The track sounds both American and English in its stylistic mix, but still with a decided seventies bent, almost like a prog version of ‘Bowler Hat’-era Stackridge, with some superb organ leads half way through and a humour that is positively endearing. The near seven minute, ‘Conflict’ sounds very like Yes/Kansas-like, opening with some fine Tony Kaye-styled Hammond organ work leading the way, then, out of nowhere the band launch themselves into a passage of soaring melodic guitar work and a series of gorgeous synth solos. The solid Yes-like bass sparks up above crunching drum rhythms and electric guitar backdrop, as lead vocals cruise effortlessly above the mix, and the band deliver a song that will have the hairs standing on the back of your neck. This is a surging, adrenaline-flowing slice of rocking prog finery, played and performed in the classic traditions of the genre. After a short eerie interlude in ‘Muse’, comes the sixteen-minute ‘Arianna’, a track that really allows the band to totally stretch out. It is a magnificent piece of prog-rock that comes across as a mix of Renaissance with male vocals, with touches of Yes in the instrumental division. Initially it is quite a relaxed, laid-back epic, as opposed to an overblown slice of symphonic grandeur, with a sound that’s full of dynamics and warmth; with quality vocals and fine keyboard work in the extended instrumental passages. The later part of this track brings about a change of pace, as the group step up a gear or two into an area occupied by some of the longer, later period Yes tracks, ending on a climactic note with soaring electric guitars and a powerful, emotion driven vocal. ‘Only Red’ starts out as an acoustic based song and develops over its five minutes into a more powerful slice of Kansas style pomp with a blistering guitar solo in the middle. A flute opens ‘Fading Age’, a primarily acoustic song with a folky Renaissance feel to it, and then the nine-minute symphonic ‘Junkyard Angel’ follows a similar musical path, with superb echoed guitar and crystalline synth/piano textures forming a minimal, but effective backdrop. Three minutes in, the piece gets more aggressive with heavy guitar riffs, chunky organ and searing synth work and the track just builds toward a powerful climax via a series of instrumental and vocal passages that any prog band would be proud of. The 9th track is the six-minute instrumental ‘Twilight Of Longview’ which opens out into an ethereal world of flutes and keyboards that create a beautiful atmospheric platform for further layers of keyboards and guitars to come in and collectively form an emotive, melodic, heartfelt theme that brings the album to a close in a relaxed, yet descriptive fashion.
Weight: 150.00 g
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